


At The Pausing of the World

by NightsMistress



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: Triangulum Arc, background Protagonist/Hotsuin Yamato
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 18:00:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20550347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightsMistress/pseuds/NightsMistress
Summary: The apocalypse has come, the world has been destroyed, and Yamato wakes up in the Akashic Stratum to regress the world to get Kuze back. Unfortunately, things are not quite that simple.





	At The Pausing of the World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KelpieChaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KelpieChaos/gifts).

Hotsuin Yamato awoke at the end of the world, and despite himself was surprised that he was not dead. He had been dying when Alcor had come to him, and had known this with the grim certainty that he also knew that their triumph over Arcturus had come at the cost of the world. He had known, even as he reached out his hand for Alcor to take, that his injuries were unsurvivable. And yet, here he was, lying on a hard surface, the cool air resting on his skin like a slightly uncomfortable sheet. The smell of death and the void was gone, along with everything else, and that meant he still had work to do. It was hard to open his eyes, but he forced himself to do so. 

He was located in a space that could only be the Akashic Stratum, all sleek walls and alien lights that looked like nothing else on earth. It was not a room he had seen before, with long spiralling staircases made of translucent material, and streams of blue text cascading down the walls. The air was still but with a thrumming tension underneath, though Yamato did not yet understand the cause. It was not the Akashic Stratum that he was familiar with, but they had arrived nonetheless. The world could be regressed and he could have back everything he had lost.

Yamato allowed himself a brief moment of recognition of the enormity of what he lost: a world twice over; friends and allies; and Kuze’s lost the most devastating loss of all. A moment to acknowledge the grief that tore him open as brutally as any demon's claw, and then he was himself once more. He was Hotsuin Yamato, the head of his family, and there was no time for him to wallow in despair. The memory of the world eaten away to mere crumbs by the void lingered behind his eyelids every time he closed them. A lesser person may have crumbled under the weight. Yamato welcomed it. Let fate bring what it would; he would bend it to his will, with Kuze at his side.

With that, Yamato forced himself to sit up, swallowing against nausea as his head spun with the movement. The wall was cool and slick against his back, as alien in its texture as everything else in the Akashic Strata, but it was solid enough to bear his weight. From here, he could take stock: chest and limbs unmarked though the pain lingered like an echo, intact clothing despite the battle and near death earlier. There were no signs of the terrible battle of Arcturus, other than his memories. 

Yamato snorted. It wasn't as if those would last after the world was regressed.

He pushed himself to his feet and searched for Alcor. Stairs spiraled up to dizzying heights but he caught a glimpse of white hair stark against the translucent blue of the walls, and a crackling-blue aura that for once looked like it belonged in the world. He walked up the stairs, muscles aching as he neared the top, but he didn't spare himself a moment to catch his breath. It was merely strain and he would push through it.

Alcor turned away from where he was manipulating a stream of iridescent blue text with his hands, faintly beatific smile on his face. He appeared as unruffled as ever, and yet Yamato thought he could sense something lurking underneath that dreamily serene mask. It made him wary, and he stopped at arm's length to Alcor.

"You have regained consciousness, Hotsuin Yamato," Alcor said smoothly. "Your injuries were serious and your memory of them will linger. Your memory will fade in time, and your pain as well."

Yamato waved a hand in dismissal.

"Enough of that." He paused, listening. The surroundings whirred with motion, but it was not the sound of the regression. He knew that sound down to his bones, and this was something else entirely. "Why are you not regressing the world? This is not where you ascend the Throne, so why are we here?"

"No," Alcor agreed. "This is the Astrolabe, where the Akashic Record is read."

"Why are we here?" Yamato took a step forward, and then another, until he was in Alcor's face. "If you betray me now, Alcor…"

Alcor did not flinch or step back. "The Shining One's data is being corrupted by the Administrator. It will take time for it to be restored."

Yamato froze, breath catching in his throat. "This is why he was not there?"

"Yes."

"Then there is only one solution," Yamato said. "We will need to restore his data."

Alcor's faint smile drew him up short; it was rare for Alcor to look so regretful.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"If the world is to be regressed, it must be done very soon."

"Ah," Yamato said. Of course. The void had swallowed too much of the world for it to survive much longer. When Yamato had left, only a sliver of the world remained, and the progress would not have slowed just because he was unconscious. He thought he understood Alcor's dilemma now: save the world or save Kuze. "And the Astrolabe? How long will it remain operational?"

"I am forcing it to remain operational because I am using it." Alco smiled apologetically. "It will shut down once I cease and the Shining One's data will be lost to us forever."

“You cannot regress the world here?” Alcor’s expression was answer enough. “How would I restore his data?”

“If you command it with the Dragon Stream, it should respond.”

Alcor stepped aside, and the flow of data stopped. Yamato stepped into place, a growl under his breath for the temerity of Alcor just stopping what he was doing without so much as a hint of warning, and he reached for the Dragon Stream. It came to him quickly -- it always had, but after saving the world twice he could command it as easily as breathing -- and he used it to interrogate the flow of data in front of him. 

The stream of data slipped through his clumsy grasp, and Yamato poured more of the Dragon Stream into his efforts. Finally, he was able to catch the data and engage with it. It was a delicate task, and his control over the Astrolabe was strange and cumbersome. He set his teeth and forced the changes that he wanted to happen, foregoing finesse for sheer power. It left him breathless. He didn't care, not while he could see Kuze's data begin to repair itself.

"Very well," he said, the Dragon Stream crackling around him. "While I continue with this, you are to go to them. Protect them and guide them until I return." He spared a moment's concentration to level a glare at Alcor. "I will not accept failure from you."

"Is that your wish, Hotsuin Yamato?"

Even now, Alcor spoke of wishes. It said something about the last few days that Yamato found that comforting as well as annoying.

"Of course," he said, looking back at the stream of data. He was conscious that he held not only Kuze's life in his hands, but literally everything that made him him: the sidelong smiles when he made a goofy comment, his tousled dark hair as if he had just woken up, the conviction that inspired everyone to follow in his plans regardless of how ridiculous they seemed. If he got any aspect of this wrong, Kuze would be irrevocably changed. Yamato would just have to ensure he did not make any mistakes. "There's no point in regressing to a world that he is not in."

"How marvellous," Alcor observed. Yamato looked up from his work, scowling.

"What is?"

"The effect the Shining One has had on you," Alcor clarified. "You have grown so much since the trials began, and your potential is still untapped."

Yamato folded his arms and looked down his nose at Alcor.. 

“Why are you wasting time with riddles?" he said sharply. "Focus your attention on regressing the world. I will bring him back.”

He turned back to his task, sensing Alcor's disappearance with the dissipation of his aura. For a moment, he thought his task would be simple, if laborious. 

Then, the first counter-attack occurred. A pillar he had previously dismissed as being part of the internal structure of the room changed form, manifesting tentacles that snapped towards him. He ducked the tentacle easily, summoning a demon to blast the pillar to ash. It did not die, instead shutting down. The app on his phone showed that the pillar continued to draw power to restore its functions.

"I should have known it was too easy," he muttered, returning his attention to his task. He would just have to hold out until Alcor returned from regressing the world; past experience suggested that would take a few moments at best. He would just have to hold out. There was no other option.


End file.
